Belated Hohhot Adventures — Bumper Bubbles!
On our first morning, Stick and I took a walk through Xinhua Square. We discovered that what we’d first thought was a strange sculpture was actually an aquatic hamster wheel for wee ones! The kids were all having a great time, trying to stand up in their giant bubbles and trying to steer towards or away from the other kids.
Sorry, No Pictures
On the morning of the third day of my food poisoning adventure, I awoke and… Ok, “I awoke” is clearly wrong as I hadn’t been sleeping so much as lying there wondering why the clock was moving so slowly, in between Flash-like speed on my trips to the bathroom. So let me rephrase that:
Stick awoke and asked me how long my fingernails had been blue. It was the final straw in our decision to go to the hospital.
“Should I bring my camera?” Stick asked, as we got ready to leave for the hospital.
“Why would you do that? If my mom sees me like this, she’ll freak out!”
“You know, so you can blog about it later.”
Not Dead, Just Resting
So, I got an awful case of food poisoning on our last night in Hohhot, and, after 48 hours of misery, we went to the hospital. I got an immediate glucose IV, and they did some tests to rule out diseases I thought were extinct. Chinese employees often get nervous and flustered when confronted with a Westerner in their place of business, but I still wish it hadn’t taken the nurse quite so many stabs to find my vein.
I have a pile more Mongolia pictures to post and some hospital adventures, too, but I have to go back to sleep now.
Hohhot Mosque
On our first day, we walked down to the Great Mosque. We knew we were getting close because we started to see Muslim butcher shops and the architecture of the whole area changed. There was quite a bit of staring and a little pointing, but I didn’t feel any hostility. Stick and I hadn’t seen another white face since the Beijing airport, so the staring seemed natural. (I can’t beleive I typed that)
The whole place was so beautiful, and we took a lot of pictures but I can’t see to find a picture to show the whole thing properly. Instead, here’s a bit of decoration on one side of one of the arches in one of the courtyards.
Only Muslims are allowed in the worship hall, but we walked around the grounds. The men smiled and asked where we were from, but between my limited vocab and the strange dialect, I had trouble understanding anything else.
Fire Escape
Stick models the in-case-of-fire headgear thoughtfully provided by our hotel. You Can Take The Girl Out Of Jersey….
The first step of our trip was a visit to the Beijing airport Starbucks. Delicious foamy milk, real coffee and a little break from the National Day crowds.
National Day
Made by the kindergarten classes at my school.